Method of fur dyeing



ATTORNEY.

Aug. 29, 1939. E. oHsMAN METHOD oF FR DYEING Filed April 29, 19157 .1053 40-` Patented Aug. 29, 1939 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE METHOD F FURDYEING Edward Ohsman, NewYork, N. Y.

Application April 29, 1937, Serial No. 139,663

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for dyeing fur skins,but more speciiically, to a method and apparatus for developing shadoweffects on fur skins by a process of immersion in .5 a. dye bath.

The main object of the invention resides in the provision of a simplemethod and apparatus whereby fur skins are shadowed or given differentshades of a dye in a dye bath.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a. methodand apparatus whereby fur skins are given a shadowing effect bywithdrawing immersed portions of fur skins in a dye bath atpre-determined intervals.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a fur skinrack cooperating with a dye vat, the said rack being suspended over thevat and being vertically adjustable and having a horizontallyreciprocating movement.

These objects and other incidental ends and advantages of the inventionwill hereinafter appear in the progress of the disclosure and as pointedout in the appended claims.

The accompanying drawing shows a preferred embodiment of the rackapparatus used to immerse and agitate fur skins which are adapted to besuspended from the said apparatus.

In accordance With the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus showing a series of bars orslats on a rack from which fur skins are adapted to be suspended into adye vat.

Figure 2 is a, side elevational View of the apparatus of Figure 1showing the said rack as a vertically adjustable and horizontallyreciprocating one.

Figure 3 is a front view in elevation particularly showing the means ofvertical adjustability of themovable rack.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of a fur skin suitably folded anddepending from a bar in the rack and being partially immersed inthe dyebath.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a fur skin after it has been given ashadowing effect.

Before shadowing the fur skins, which is the object of the inventionherein, the skins are given the usual treatment and dyed with a grounddye to a uniform color. The skins are first given .0 the customarykilling or scouring treatment of either sal soda or soda ash for two tothree hours, depending on the type of skin or section to be dyed, andare then washed well in running water for about thirty minutes and thenhydro-extracted. Thereafter, the customary mordant used in fur dyeing isapplied to the skins, the said mordant being either potassium,dichromate, iron sulphate or copper sulphate. The skins are left in themordant bath for sixteen to twenty hours after which they arehydroextracted. After the mordanting, the skins are ready to be given aground dye. The dyes used are the ordinary type of Ursol fur dyes, theparticular type of dye to be used depending upon the desired color to beeiected. The usual time required for the ground dye is two to threehours. Following the application of the ground dye, the skins arehydro-extracted and stretched well.

Now the skins are ready to be given the v shadowing eiiect, which is theobject'of the invention herein. The stretched skins are placed on aseries of bars or slats which are preferably approximately one andone-quarter (11A) inches wide and ve (5) feet long and fastened theretoby any ordinary means such as thumb tacks. The skins are placed on thesaid slats or bars in any position depending upon the desired positionof the shadow stripes. As shown in Figure 4 of the drawing, the skinsare re-doubled twice with the hairs on the outside and are then placedin a. straddling position thereon with the open edges projecting belowthe bent edge to provide for subsequent trimming. The bars with theskins fastened to them are then placed on a rack construction suspendedby cables, the latter depending from pulleys in a framework which alsosupports a dye vat. The rack is vertically adjustable by means of thesaid cables relative to the dye vat and in addition is given horizontalreciprocating movement about the cables as supports to provide agitationfor the rack. The cables supporting the rack are passed through a seriesof pulleys mounted on the framework and then secured to a drum having aratchet and ratchet wheel cooperating therewith. The rack together withthe bars or slats thereon mounting the fur skins is adjusted .to producethe proper width of shadow stripes by lowering the rack whereby thedesired depth of the fur Skins in the dye bath is obtained. The rack iskept in a swinging motion and raised at pre-determined intervals inorder to produce a shadow stripe having different and merging shadesthereon. For example, to produce one type of different and mergingdegrees of shade in a shadow stripe, the fur skins are immersed to thedesired depth and kept therein for one minute while the rack is mountedin swinging motion. Thereafter the rack is raised to the extent of onenotch of the ratchet; after three minutes another notch of the ratchetis raised; after seven minutes another notch of the ratchet is raised;after twelve minutes another notch of the ratchet is raised. Thereafterthe rack is kept swinging for thirty minutes after which time the motionis stopped and the rack is allowed to remain in a. stationary positionuntil the desired depth of shade of the lower portion cf the shadowstripe is obtained. When this point is reached, the ratchet is raised sothat the skins are completely out of the dye bath. The skins are thenremoved from the bars and are hydro-extracted. Following thehydro-extraction, the skins are treated in the usual way for finishing,namely: oiled, then hung to dry and nnished in sawdust tumblers withmaple saw dust.

The framework. the rack, the vat and the agitation and adjustment meanshereinbefore mentioned are now to be described as typical of theapparatus utilized in practicing the invention herein. 'I'he frameworkconsists of two forward and two rear vertical posts Il, il and I2 and I3respectively. A lower forward and rear cross bar i4 and il are suitablyjoined to the upright posts while the upper forward and rear cross bar23 and 2i are similarly joined to the posts. Lower longitudinal membersIt, i1 and upper longitudinal members i3, il are secured tothe posts atthe corresponding cross bars. The framework is provided with suitablereinforcing brackets 23, 22, 24 and 25 at the forward side, and similarbrackets not shown'in the drawing on the rear side. Reinforcing brackets2l, 21 and 2l and 29 are also provided at the outer lateral side of theframework, and similar brackets not shown in the drawing on the lateralinner side. 'Ihe cross piece 3l is adapted to be secured across thelower longitudinal members ii and I1 at the under edges and intermediatethe length of the said members with appropriate reinforcing brackets 3|,only one of the said brackets being shown in thel drawing.

A dye vat is supported on the longitudinal members I4, I1 andcrossnembers i4 and Ii of the lower part of the framework, the said dyevat having forward and rear walls 32, 33 and longitudinal side walls 34and 3l. The floor 3l for the vat is suitably and water-tightly joined tothe walls 32, 33 and 34 and 3l as best shown in Figure 2. Avseries ofparallel or supporting strips 31 are secured to the under surface offloor 33 and are adapted to rest on the upper surface of the lowerlongitudinal members i3 and i1.

Adapted to be raised, lowered and agitated in the dye vat is a fur skinrack attached to cables, the said cables passing downwardly throughoverhead pulleys attached to the framework and proceeding from a drumalso mounted on the framework, the said drum having a ratchet wheel andratchet associated therewith. The rack is comprised of two two-plylongitudinal members shorter than the length of the dye vat to permitagitation therein and two two-ply transverse members slightly shorterthan the width of the dye vat. Thus, 59-60 and 32 and the underplythereof, Il shown in the drawing constitute the longitudinal members ofthe rack while 83-84 and 6.5-68 constitute the transverse membersthereof.

The pulley frames and pulleys therein above- -mentioned are secured tothe under-surface of upper longitudinal members I3 and I9. Thus, pulleyframes and pulleys 33, 39 and 42 secured to the lunder surface of upperlongitudinal member i9 carry cables 45 and 43 secured to thelongitudinal double-ply member 59-60 of the` rack by means of turnbuckles 43 and 1l. The cables proceed downwardly from pulley 42 onto adrum 51 which is secured to a mounting piece II' being affixed to thepost il. Pulleys 4I, 4l and 43 and 44 lead cables 41 and 43 from theopposite longitudinal member of the rack to the drum l1. Cables 41 and43 are similarly secured to the rack at the opposite longitudinal memberthereto by means of turn buckles. such as 1I' and another not shown inthe drawing.

The upper plies of the longitudinal members. of the rack are providedwith transversely aligned recesses 88 disposed inwardly of the outeredges. Thesaidrecessestlareinalignmentandare in parallel to accommodatea series of bars or slats 31, each of which is adapted to have securedthereto, as has been before mentioned,

a fur piece which is' intended to be immersed in the dye vat. 'Ihe bars31 are removable from recesses for the usual reasons of removing the furskins from the rack and securing new fur skins to be shadowed. A

Attached todrum 51 is a gear Il and a ratchet wheel il, the said gear ilbeing rotated by means of a pinion l2, the said pinion l2 being mountedon a shaft il amxed to the .panel Il'. The ratchet wheel il is providedwith a ratchet I3 to prevent counter-revolution of the said ratchetwheel. The drum. I1 is alsoprovided with 'ashaft 43 afiixed to the panelIi. Pinion l2 is provided with an operating lever 54 to rotate the samewhile lever II operating on shaft I. serves as a stopping nut for thelever I4.

Figure4showsaskin1iasitismountedona bar 81 and is immersedinthe dyebath. The skin 15 shown re-doubled twice is adapted to give a series ofparallel stripes a shadowing effect when in out-stretched' position. Anyother type of mounting of fur skins 1l on slats 61 is feasible toproduce other eii'ects. It is to be observed 'that when the rack withthe fur skins thereon is first immersed in the dye bath the skins arelowered to a greater depth than the width of the stripe desired in orderto.eliminate the possibility of obtaining a clear line of demarcation atthe upper limit of the stripe.

The rack is given a horizontally-reciprocating motion by any knownmethod; thus intermediate the width of the rear transverse member of therack is secured an upright bar 1i. Slideably engaging with the saidupright bar 1i is a connecting arm 12 which is pivotally connected to anoscillatingarm 13. The agitation of the rack causes the'fur skins 15 tobe thoroughly saturated with the dye solution in the vat.

I wish it understood that minor changes and variations in the steps ofthe method outlined above may be resorted to without departing from thespirit of the invention and that 'mincir changes and variations in theconstruction of the apparatus utilized in the practice f the method mayalso be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the inventionand without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a method of producing merging shadowing eil'ects on a fur skin,the step of folding over the skin with the hair outwardly disposed,immersing the skin in a dye bath and simultaneously agitating the skinwhile immersed andV raising portions of the skin out of the bathsuccessively and at diiferent time intervals during the said agitation.

2. In a method of producing merging shadowing eifects on a fur skin, thestep of immersing the skin in a dye bath and simultaneously agitatingthe skin while immersed and raising portions of the skin out of the bathsuccessively and at different time intervals during the said agitation.

EDWARD OHSMAN.

